SEC to focus on traditional cases under new leadership, acting director says

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will likely focus on more traditional cases under incoming leadership, including those involving individual wrongdoing and fraud targeting elders, the agency's acting enforcement director said on Monday.

The SEC has pioneered novel enforcement theories in recent years, such as a 2021 "shadow trading" case, which it won. But it is in the midst of a major pivot and staff exodus since Republicans took the helm at the agency in January.

"Creativity is probably not where we want to be," Sam Waldon, the agency's interim enforcement director, told a securities industry event, when asked about such recent enforcement theories.

Instead, Waldon said he expected the agency to pursue perennial areas of enforcement, including insider trading and accounting and disclosure fraud along with cases involving emerging technologies and retail investor fraud.

He also said cases aimed at individual accountability will be a priority.

"It's always a priority, but I do think that those are cases that are going to be received better by this commission," he said.

Paul Atkins, President Donald Trump's appointee to lead the agency, is slated to appear on Capitol Hill on Thursday. The SEC is expected to give Wall Street an easier ride under his leadership.

Since January, the SEC has overhauled its cryptocurrency policy stance, pausing or walking away from key cases against cryptocurrency firms.

The agency has also reined in enforcement staff's ability to kick off formal investigations without commission approval. When asked about that move, Waldon downplayed the impact of that effort.

"It's too early to tell," he said. "There are a lot of ways to put together a process to get the commission to grant an authorization."

(Reporting by Chris Prentice; Editing by Joe Bavier)